Talmudic Academies in The Land of Israel - Location of The Patriarchate

Location of The Patriarchate

In the time of Shimon ben Gamaliel II, the seat of the Patriarchate frequently shifted location; its first move being from Usha to Shefar'am; thence, under Shimon's son and successor, Judah ha-Nasi or Judah I, to Beit She'arim; and finally to Sepphoris (Tzippori), where a celebrated disciple of Akiba, Jose ben Halafta, had been teaching. Only with great difficulty could Shimon ben Gamaliel establish his authority over this pupil of Akiba, who far outshone him in learning. Shimon's son, Judah I, however, was fortunate enough to unite with his inherited rank the indisputable reputation of a distinguished scholar, a combination of great importance under the circumstances. Judah, in whom "Torah and dignity" were combined, was the man appointed to close an important epoch and to lay the foundation of a new one. The academy at Sepphoris, to which eminent students from Babylonia also flocked, erected an indestructible monument to itself through Judah's activity in editing the Mishnah, which attained to canonical standing as the authentic collection of the legal traditions of religious practise. In the Mishnah, the completion of which was accomplished soon after the death of its author or editor (about 219), the schools both of the Land of Israel and of Babylonia received a recognized text-book, upon which the lectures and the debates of the students were thence-forward founded. The recognition of Rabbi Judah's Mishnah marks a strong dividing line in the history of the Academies and their teachers: it indicates the transition from the age of the Tannaim to that of the Amoraim.